


The Library

by pravenclaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 08:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15626652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pravenclaw/pseuds/pravenclaw
Summary: With Albus off on a walk with his dad, Scorpius runs off to watch the Quidditch match. Slytherin are playing Hufflepuff. It's a big one. But Scorpius meets someone on the way, and instead he takes a trip to his beloved library.Cursed Child compliant.





	The Library

‘See you at dinner!’ called Albus. Scorpius grinned and waved to his best friend.

The corridors were empty, apart from a few straggling students now all rushing down to the Quidditch pitch to make it in time for the match. A few even smiled at Scorpius as they went. They wouldn’t have done that a year ago, Scorpius thought to himself. So much had changed.

Scorpius glanced down at this watch. Five minutes. If he hurried, he might just make it. He knew the castle better than anyone (apart from maybe James and his friends) and knew about the shortcut behind the tapestry to the left of the Charms classroom. There was a staircase behind, which led to a chamber just off the Entrance Hall.

Scorpius ran down one corridor, then another. The crowd had begun cheering by now. The Charms classroom was just around the corner, and then it was simply a case of –

‘AHH!’ roared a voice suddenly. A hand shot out from around the corner and grabbed Scorpius harshly by the shoulder.

Scorpius twirled on the spot to face the person who had jumped out at him, his hand hovering over his wand and his heart not daring to beat.

‘I’m surprised, Malfoy. Barely a flinch! Perhaps you really are the _Scorpion King_ ,’ said Rose, throwing her head back in a high-pitched cackle. ‘Where are you running off to anyway?’ Scorpius, still with his hand over his wand, smirked.

‘Rose! You really shouldn’t scare people like that!’

Rose laughed again and straightened her robes. ‘Where are you off to?’ she asked again.

‘Th – the Quidditch match. Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. Y – you’re not going?’ stammered Scorpius.

Rose shook her head and turned on her heel, starting back down the corridor Scorpius had just run down.

‘Sorry – but where’re going?’ Scorpius called after her.

‘Why, the library, of course. Fourth-year exams are coming up. It’s always empty on match days, even Madam Pince goes,’ said Rose, slowly walking back over to join Scorpius. ‘Now are you coming or not?’

Scorpius nodded somewhat tentatively.

‘Then come on,’ beamed Rose, grabbing Scorpius by the wrist and dragging him halfway down the corridor. She was much stronger than she looked.

He was shocked to discover that Rose seemed to know the secret passages around Hogwarts just as well as he did. She even knew about the sliding panel behind the statue of the Scowling Warlock on the second floor, which he had only discovered three months before completely by accident.

‘Here we are,’ said Rose as they arrived at the library. ‘Fingers crossed it’s a long game. That’ll give me time to find the right books and make some notes if I’m lucky before they all start thundering back to their common rooms.’

Rose found a table in a little nook for them by the Restricted Section, lit by a dim yellow lamp. She went in her bag and took out three books (all of which seemed far too big to fit in her bag), and a neat revision table drawn out over three rolls of parchment she’d seemingly Spello-taped together. Rose skimmed over it, tapping her finger and muttering under her breath things like, ‘yes, that’s right, Ancient Runes yesterday…’ and ‘History of Magic now... An hour free tomorrow morning… Hmm, yes, that still works out so far.’

Scorpius saw that each box had been neatly scribbled in pencil first, and then gone over again in a range of different coloured inks. He was just wondering if Rose had applied a system to the colour scheme when she suddenly called out to him.

‘Oy, Malfoy!’ she shouted, her head emerging from behind an extremely dusty bookshelf. She was carrying two bulky books as three others flapped overhead like little dull moths. ‘Any recommendations? I wanted some extra reading. I’ve already got Professor Whopping’s _Big Book of Giants_ , as well as Agatha Chubb’s _100 Greatest Wizarding Artefacts You Really Should Know About_. Anything I’ve missed?’

Scorpius felt like punching the air, it was like all of his Christmases had come at once. He rose to his feet a little too eagerly and picked out a few extra books, helping Rose to carry them back over to their seats. Rose carefully considered each book and sorted them into different piles of varying size and began by flicking open one of the larger books. Her dark-brown eyes scanned the contents page closely.

‘It’s not like you to miss Quidditch, even with fourth-year exams coming up. Slytherin have quite the team these days. I thought you’d be out in the stands checking out the competition,’ said Scorpius casually.

‘Maybe I am…’ said Rose, without glancing up from the page. ‘Hmm, I’m not sure there’s anything of use in here,’ she sighed.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I was looking for some detailed references to witch burnings in the fourteenth century, but this book doesn’t seem to–’

‘No, I meant the bit before that,’ mumbled Scorpius.

‘Oh, that! Nothing…’ she said, snickering. ‘Just that Madam Hooch might’ve mentioned that she sees you practising out on the pitch all the time. Day or night, rain or shine. She even said you’re quite good, but I’ll be the judge of that.’ She shut the book and picked up her quill.

‘Yeah, I might even make the team this year or next,’ said Scorpius, tousling his hair, for which he felt very stupid when he realised Rose hadn’t actually been looking at him.

‘Why did you ask me to come, Rose?’ Scorpius said it so quietly he barely made a sound. But Rose had heard.

She stopped writing at once, placing her quill gently back down on the table. ‘Well, everyone knows you’re the best at History of Magic – Potions too – but if you tell anyone I said that I’ll say you’re a liar,’ she said a little too earnestly. On catching sight of Scorpius’s bemused frown, Rose grinned and quickly added, ‘I’m joking, silly!’

‘Then why really?’ Scorpius said a little more seriously, compelling Rose to answer him. A pregnant pause followed. It was a short while before Rose eventually answered him.

‘You wouldn’t have pressed me for answers a year ago, you wouldn’t have had enough nerve. You wouldn’t have dared to ask me out either,’ she said with a content little smile on her face. ‘You’ve changed so much since then. I’ve noticed you’ve not been fidgeting with your hands and fingers and pulling at your sleeves in class. And look – you’ve even stopped biting your nails,’ pointed Rose.

Scorpius’s pale face flushed with pink, but thankfully Rose hadn’t seemed to notice.

‘I was hoping Albus would still be with you,’ Rose said in a small voice.

‘Afraid not. He went on a “ _walk_ ” with his dad.’

‘Uncle Harry’s taking time away from the Ministry?’ she said, sounding a little shocked. ‘I’m happy for them,’ smiled Rose. ‘Anyway, never mind Albus. I can speak to him whenever I like. There’ll be plenty of time in the holidays for all that.’

‘S – so you wanted to speak to me then?’ stuttered Scorpius.

Rose turned to face Scorpius. In that moment she looked more solemn than Scorpius had ever seen her. Her face had lost all its usual poised, bright expression, and was replaced by a look of purest sincerity.

‘I want to apologise,’ she said simply. ‘I never really gave you a chance. I was judgmental and harsh and really rather awful to you.’

‘You’ve never been mean to me…’ Scorpius said, looking down at the floor. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’

‘Maybe not, I could have been nicer! I stood by and let Polly and Karl and all the others say those horrible things to you. I never spoke up once, not even in private. I was awful to you! As soon as I met you that day in the compartment, I just knew the rumours were a load of rubbish. You were sweet, and I was… rude.’

Rose frowned and took a deep breath. ‘It’s probably best to start at the beginning,’ she said. Once she started talking, she couldn’t seem to stop.

‘It wasn’t easy for me either, growing up with famous parents, being one of the youngest in a family as big as mine. I know you and Albus felt burdened by your names, but I did too – I still do. Granger-Weasley. Imagine being the eldest child of two heroes of the wizarding world? Imagine having two of the most famous names behind you? Like a beacon, always there, no escaping from the presumptions people are bound to make. So I tried my best to embrace it. All the looks, the pointing, the staring. I’ve known what was expected of me for as long as I can remember.’

Rose swallowed. She hadn’t taken her eyes away from Scorpius. ‘As soon as I found out about Hogwarts, I was desperate to go.’

‘Me too,’ interjected Scorpius.

‘I was ambitious – too ambitious, my dad would say – but I desperately wanted to prove it to them, I needed to. I needed to prove that I was worthy of their names, worthy of being both Granger _and_ Weasley. I had everything planned out. I was confident that Albus and I would make friends on the train, just like our parents did, we’d both be Sorted into Gryffindor, we’d be there for each other, always. Trips to Hogsmeade, Quidditch matches, adventures! Just like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Potter, Granger and Weasley together. Just like the old days…’

Scorpius placed a comforting hand on Rose’s arm. ‘Albus was happy to follow you,’ he said, ‘he told me so himself. Your confidence was a great comfort to him.’

Rose’s eyes widened. ‘Believe me, I clung to Albus just as much as he clung to me,’ she said. Scorpius pretended to pick fluff from his robes as Rose dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.

‘I remember seeing you with your mum and dad on the platform that day. My dad warned me to stay away from you, naturally,’ said Rose, rolling her eyes. Scorpius sniggered. ‘Old habits die hard and all that. He was joking, I think, but still I listened. I assumed you’d be the same as your dad, and that was wrong… Then we got to Hogwarts and Albus joined you in Slytherin. It was in that moment I realised all my plans and dreams weren’t going to be a reality,’ she said glumly. ‘I tried to make friends with Albus again at the start of the year, but he didn’t want that and rightly so.’

Scorpius recalled that day, Albus entering the compartment with Rose at his heels. He had been excited. ‘I suppose I didn’t help matters by saying you smelt of fresh bread… what an odd thing to say, honestly I’m still mortified.’

Rose snorted. ‘You _are_ odd,’ she said, ‘and that’s why people like you.’ She paused again and took a deep breath.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose said clearly, sticking out her hand. Scorpius grinned and gripped her hand tightly. His heart felt like bursting.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ giggled Rose.

‘Like what?’

‘Like you’re eyeing up one of those massive chocolate sundaes served at the End-of-Term Feast. I didn’t know a person’s eyes could get so big. Are you all right? Are you ill?’ she teased.

‘No – no, it’s just… I never thought we’d be like this. Not to say I didn’t hope for this, or wish for it, I just didn’t think it would ever happen. This is a total and utter dream of mine. Us two. Mates. Pals. Friends. It’s exciting!’

‘Scorpius,’ Rose said quietly, ‘remember what I said. Don’t let this be weird.’

‘Hah! Right.’

So consumed in their conversation, Scorpius and Rose hadn’t heard the loud cheering coming from the Quidditch Pitch, nor the chanting and singing as the rest of the school traipsed off to their common rooms. They only realised the Quidditch match was over when a group of brawny sixth-years came spilling into the library, closely followed by an aggrieved-looking Madam Pince, and Albus.

‘There you are!’ he said loudly, which received a sharp hiss from Madam Pince. ‘Together. Really? Should I go back out again?’ Albus whispered. Scorpius quickly raised his arms in protest and Rose rolled her eyes.

Rose returned a couple of the books to their shelves and had Madam Pince stamp the others. Scorpius, meanwhile, stood in total silence as Albus looked at him strangely, a crooked smile on his face.

The trio left the library together, Rose putting her arms around the boys’ shoulders as they walked, chattering all the way until they reached the main staircase. Rose took a step up and turned, flashing her narrow eyes playfully.

‘Don’t think this means I’ve forgiven either of you just yet,’ she said, pursing her lips.

‘Forgiven us? What for?’ asked Albus, sounding a little confused.

‘Erm, excuse me? You erased me from time! I didn’t exist! Did you really think I’d forgotten about that? You can start your grovelling from this moment on. After all, I’m going to take _ages_ to persuade… Same time tomorrow then?’

Rose winked at them, turned sharply on her heel and skipped up the staircase towards the Gryffindor Tower.

‘She’s a weird one,’ said Albus, shaking his head.

‘Nah, I think she’s brilliant,’ beamed Scorpius.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to put together something which revealed Rose's motives (as I imagine them), and also because I desperately want The New Trio™ to be a thing after the events of Cursed Child. 
> 
> Perhaps slightly Scorose-y?
> 
> Cheers to B.L for giving this the once-over x


End file.
